Putnam Rumors

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." Mark Twain spoke these words a long time ago and they still hold true.
As school drew to a close last week and some neighboring schools closed for good, stories began to circulate about closing a school in the Marietta district. Putnam School specifically.
Possibly the speculation was prompted in part by the resignation of the Phillips School Principal, Renee’ Schoonover. We’re going to miss her, but thank her for her great service while with us. So let’s attempt to address the subject as best we can with the information at hand.
At the January board meeting when it was obvious that our last opportunity to reduce spending for the ’08-’09 school year lay before us in the form of the proposed Curriculum Guide, the board said no. We were not going to accept continuing down the path of spending over a million dollars more than we were projected to receive. Not a good plan.
The board charged the administration with finding a million dollars in savings and bringing that information back to us by Wednesday. They had just over one day to accomplish the task.
What resulted was a listing of potential savings divided into three categories based on the impact to students and staff. A total of nearly $3 million in savings was presented, though some changes were mutually exclusive. One of the items on that list was closing Putnam School for an estimated savings of over $300,000.
The board knew that any of the numbers on the list were hastily derived and not to be counted too closely. We further knew that closing a school involved quite a lot more than just shutting the doors and moving the students to other buildings. A lot of planning would have to be involved and many unasked questions would have to be addressed.
We have heard nothing further from the administration on this subject in subsequent meetings. We chose from the list and achieved about $700,000 in savings for next year. Which leaves us overspending our income by about $500,000. Not comfortable, but headed in the right direction. It buys us time to examine other options and possibilities.
The board is mindful that voters renewed expired levies just last spring with a small amount of new money available. But that new money is not sufficient to carry us very far forward if we overspend. And, it’s not a great time to ask for yet more money from voters. Probably won’t be for a while. We must survive on our current and foreseeable resources.
None of us has a magic wand. We cannot change the fact that our district has lost an average of over 89 students per year for the past ten years. While this loss is slowing, we are still losing. Thus far the incoming Kindergarten class for next year appears to be running about 20 fewer students than projected. The trend is undeniable and inalterable.
One possibility is to operate with one principal serving two schools which has been successful in the past. Other savings combinations may exist. We will be pursuing every avenue of survival.
It is this board’s wish to be transparent and to avoid surprises with its pubic. You now know as much as we think we know about the future of Putnam School.
Mark Twain was correct; but not helpful in our circumstance. We know that we do not know much of anything for certain. We are working to survive in an uncertain world. We will do our best to keep you informed.